"
Charlotte and Andrew were staring at him in amazement.
"Uncle Ray?" cried Charlotte, under her breath. "Was he the one? Did you
know it all the time, Doctor Forester?"
"Yes, I knew it all the time" he owned. "In fact, Captain Rayburn wrote
to me after he had heard of the fireplace. You sent him a photograph of
it, didn't you?"
"So we did," Doctor Churchill answered. "We took it the day the
fireplace was finished, I'd forgotten it completely, but I remember now.
We thought he'd be interested, because something he once said about the
ideal fireplace had put the idea into our heads of collecting the stones
ourselves. So he wrote all the way from Denmark to have that made?"
"He had it made there, and wrote me for the measurements. He expressed
it to me, and I repacked it and sent it to you," chuckled Doctor
Forester. "He was determined to puzzle you completely."
"He certainly succeeded. Did he give you leave to tell at this
particular date?"
"It was left to my discretion after the first six months, provided you
had had any guests. I thought the time was ripe, and you'd earned your
diploma.
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